Wky 

Foreign  Mission  Gifts 
Must  be  Continued 
During  tke 
War 


American  6aptidt  Foreign 
““  MiBsion  Society 

Ford  Building,  Ashburton  Place 

BOSTON.  MASS. 


“  ''T^E  only  Christianity 
JL  that  can  have  any  liv¬ 
ing  power  in  our  own  nation 
today  or  that  can  have  any 
power  in  the  work  of  re¬ 
construction  when  the  war 


is  done,  is  a  Christianity 
that  DOES  NOT  SHIRK 
ANY  OF  ITS  DUTIES 
TODAY  but  that  MEETS 
THE  DEMANDS  OF 
THE  ENTIRE  WORLD 


TASK.”  —Robert  E.  Speer 


Wky  Foreign  M^ission  Gifts 
Must  be  Continued 
During  tbeW^ar 


ATURALLY,  there  is  a  feeling  that 


every  ounce  of  America’s  power 
should  be  given  just  now  to  insure  victory 
in  the  titanic  struggle  for  world  de¬ 
mocracy.  Naturally,  too,  a  question 
arises  in  the  minds  of  some  as  to  why  we 
should  continue  to  make  large  gifts  to 
foreign  missions  at  this  hour.  Second 
thought  brings  a  reply  to  such  questions, 
for  it  is  evident  that  wars  will  continue 
until  international  brotherhood  becomes 
a  fact  instead  of  a  sentiment.  The  races 
must  be  more  closely  united  in  spirit  if 
the.  world  is  to  enjoy  universal  peace. 

Recognizing  this  truth  we  do  well  to 
remember  that  the  missionary  movement 
has  been  characterized  as 


“THE  GREATEST  UNIFYING  POWER 
AT  WORK  AMONG  MEN.” 


[3] 


In  1913,  the  late  Hamilton  Wright 
Mabie,  then  one  of  the  editors  of  The 
Outlook,  returned  from  a  visit  to  the 
Orient  whither  he  had  journeyed  as  a 
special  messenger  from  the  Peace  Society 
of  America  to  the  Japanese  people.  Soon 
after  his  return  The  Outlook  said 
editorially : 

“The  missionary  movement  is  today  the 
greatest  unifying  power  at  work  among  men;  it 
is  defining  a  universal  standard  of  morals,  teach¬ 
ing  and  illustrating  a  practice  of  the  gospel  of 
love  which  steadily  gains  ground  in  the  face  of 
skepticism  and  cynicism,  and  is  silently  working 
a  revolution  in  the  feelings  and  thoughts  of  men 
in  race  relations.  The  missionary  movement  has 
become  the  very  highest  statesmanship;  it  is  the 
one  adequate  expression  of  that  spiritual  inter¬ 
nationalism  which  was  long  the  dream  of  the 
prophets,  but  is  fast  becoming  an  inspiring  fact 
in  the  life  of  the  world. 

If  “The  missionary  movement  is  today 
the  greatest  unifying  power  at  work 
among  men’’,  and  if  the  missionary  move¬ 
ment  “is  the  one  adequate  expression  of 
that  spiritual  internationalism  which  was 
long  the  dream  of  the  prophets”,  then  it 
is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  something 
apart  from  the  present  struggle  for  de¬ 
mocracy  but  in  reality  as  an  essential 
part  of  that  struggle. 

[4] 


In  the  spring  of  1913,  when  relations 
between  the  American  and  Japanese 
Governments  were  severely  strained, 
Marquis  Okuma,  twice  prime  minister  of 
Japan,  who  in  his  boyhood  w'as  a  pupil  of 
the  Christian  missionary  Guido  Verbeck, 
was  reported  as  saying  to  Dr.  John  R. 
Mott  and  Dr.  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie : 

“Now,  how  can  questions  of  the  character 
that  have  arisen  between  California  and  Japan 
be  solved?  Personally  I  am  profoundly  con¬ 
vinced  that  questions  of  this  kind  can  never  be 
solved  by  law,  nor  by  politics,  nor  by  diplomacy. 
And  as  for  war,  it  is  unthinkable  that  America 
and  Japan  will  ever  resort  to  arms  in  an  effort  to 
find  a  solution  for  any  of  the  questions  that  come 
up  between  them.  It  is  only  when  the  American 
people  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Japanese  people 
on  the  other  hand  come  to  believe  what  the  gospel 
teaches  in  regard  to  man’s  true  relation  to  his 
fellowmen  that  questions  of  this  character  will  be 
peaceably  and  permanently  solved.  It  is  only 
when  these  two  peoples  believe  what  Christ 
taught  in  regard  to  the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man  that  they  will  be  able  to 
extend  hands  across  the  Pacific  and  work  to¬ 
gether  for  all  that  is  good  and  great  and  noble. 

The  only  force  that  can  solve  such  questions  is 
Christianity.” 

This,  then,  is  not  the  hour  for  a  lessen¬ 
ing  of  interest  in  the  foreign  mission  work. 
On  the  contrary  the  hour  calls  for  a 


larger  support  of  such  work  than  ever 
before.  Without  the  slightest  reduction 
in  the  volume  of  our  work  we  shall  need 
greatly  enlarged  gifts  to  meet  the  extra 
cost  occasioned  by  the  war.  But  in  this 
critical  hour  we  must  not  be  content  with 
merely  holding  our  own  in  the  support  of 
the  “greatest  unifying  power  at  work 
among  men.’’  The  spirit  of  the  times 
demands  that  the  armies  already  at  the 
front  be  made  a  more  effective  fighting 
force  in  the  struggle  for  democracy. 

— Dr.  James  H.  Franklin,  Foreign  Secretary. 


The  Canadian  Congregational  Churches 
during  the  third  year  of  the  war  increased 
their  foreign  mission  contributions  by 
160  per  cent.  Their  watchword  was;  “we 
who  have  given  our  sons  will  not  with¬ 
hold  our  money.” 

“We  believe  in  not  only  MAINTAIN¬ 
ING  all  that  we  have  begun,  but  in  even 
now  ENLARGING  and  EXTENDING 
every  effort  to  carry  Christ  TODAY  — 
not  when  the  war  is  over,  but  today  — 
to  the  last  ends  of  the  world;  because 
we  know  that  Christ  will  signify  what 
nothing  else  will  signify  to  mankind.” 


The  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission 
Society  must  receive  from  churches  and 
from  individuals  this  year  at  the  very 
least  $213,947  more  than  came  from  these 
sources  during  the  last  fiscal  year  in  order 
to  carry  on  our  work.  This  is  due  to  the 
increased  cost  of  missionary  work  and  of 
materials;  to  a  substantial  decrease  in 
receipts  from  legacies;  and  to.  the  extra 
appropriations  required  to  cover  the 
difference  in  exchange  rates  in  China 
because  of  the  war.  Before  the  war  a 
gold  dollar  would  purchase  two  silver 
dollars  in  China.  Recently  the  rate  has 
varied  from  $1.17  to  $1.40.  This  entails 
great  additional  expense  as  the  Society  is 
spending  a  large  amount  in  China  each 
year.  While  we  have  done  “our  bit”  for 
the  Y.M.C.A.,  the  Red  Cross,  for  Belgian 
and  Armenian  relief  and  while  we  are 
caring  for  the  widows,  orphans,  blind  and 
crippled  soldiers,  yet  we  must  not  fail  at 
this  hour  to  meet  the  increased  emergency 
needsof  Foreign  Missions, —  “thegreatest 
unifying  power  at  work  among  men.” 

WHEN  MILLIONS  OF  MEN  ARE 
DYING  FOR  WORLD  DEMOCRACY, 
IS  THIS  A  TIME  FOR  CHRISTIAN 
MEN  and  WOMEN  to  HOARD  MONEY? 


The  Last  Command  of  Christ  is 
Valid  Now 

“YE  SHALL  BE  MY  WITNESSES  UNTO 
THE  UTTERMOST  PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD.” 

“AND  THE  THUNDER  OF  GUNS  ACROSS 
THE  BATTLEFIELDS  OF  FRANCE  CANNOT 
DROWN  IN  THE  HEART  OF  ANY  CHRIS¬ 
TIAN  MAN  THE  SUMMONS,  THE  DEATH¬ 
LESS, ABIDING  SUMMONS  OF  THOSE  LAST 
WORDS.” 


“He  must  have  a  callous  soul  who  can  pass 
through  times  like  these  and  not  hear  a  voice, 
whose  call  a  man  must  answer,  or  else  lose  his 
soul.  Your  country  needs  YOU,  the  Kingdom 
of  God  on  earth  needs  YOU.  The  Cause  of 
Christ  is  hard  bestead  and  righteousness  is 
having  a  heavy  battle  in  the  earth  —  they  need 

— Harry  E.  Fosdick. 


yp  OR  literature  or  other  information  regarding 
"  the  work  of  the  Society,  write  to  any  of  the 
following; 

The  District  Secretary  of  your  district. 
Department  of  Missionary  Education,  33  East  36th  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Literature  Department,  Box  41,  Boston,  Mass. 

[8] 


l08-35M'l-2-l8l8 


